In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of motor homes as they have become more affordable to a populace that has more leisure time to take advantage of their use. As is commonly known, motor homes are self-propelled vehicles in which are contained most of the conveniences for comfortable living.
There are many occasions when it is problematic and awkward to rely upon the motor home for all of the motive requirements. For instance, during an extended recreational venture, it is desirable to keep the motor home at a permanent location, such as a campground, and use a separate vehicle for other transportation needs.
While a separate vehicle may be driven to the recreational site along with the motor home, this also presents inconvenience and inefficiency. Furthermore, the driving of a separate vehicle defeats the purpose of the motor home which is intended to allow the entire family to travel together in one transportation unit.
There have been previous attempts to design towing assemblies that allow an automobile to be towed behind a motor home. One such design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,910 to Rigg. The Rigg design includes a load bar pivotally attached to a cross member fixed to the chassis of the motor home. The load bar is mounted for rotation in a vertical arc underneath the motor home. An extension bar is telescopingly received within the load bar and is coupled to the proximal end of the towed vehicle. The load bar/extension bar assembly may thus be upwardly rotated about the pivot axis defined by the cross member attached to the motor home to lift the proximal end of the towed vehicle to a position for towing.
Although the Rigg and similar designs satisfy their functional purpose, they do have drawbacks. The load represented by the towed vehicle is a significant distance from the pivot axis of the load bar. This tends to reduce the stability of the towing operation. Furthermore, there is always the need to ensure when driving that a component situated below the motor home is held in a raised position. This requires reliance on extraneous locking mechanisms and may involve having to crawl underneath the motor home.
A need is thus identified to provide a towing assembly that eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art. It is desired to provide a towing assembly that provides increase stability for towing by eliminating all moving components situated underneath the motor home. It is further desirable to have a towing assembly that is easy to operate in its functional environment. The present invention is designed to satisfy these goals.